Dr John Wedderburn is renowned in Asia. He is a medical doctor
who has been involved in animal welfare and rights for the last 15
years. He is the founder of the Asian Animal Protection Network and
also helped found EarthCare: http://www.earth.org.hk/ and the Hong Kong Vegan
Society: www.ivu.org/hkvegan/

Dr Wedderburn said at the second Asia for Animals conference in
September: "The [undercover] work of Western animal activists is
much limited in Asia by our inability to blend into the background.
We desperately need local people to undertake undercover operations
in slaughterhouses, medical laboratories, etc."

Dr Wedderburn himself posed as a research scientist interested in
buying beagles and macaques, and gained entry into a huge breeding
establishment in China. He also gained entry into the dog farms of
China now breeding St Bernards and experimenting with crossing
different breeds to produce the "ideal" animal.

Claudette Vaughan met up with him in Hong Kong.

Claudette: What got you started on the road to
veganism?

John: My son introduced me to veganism in 1987. He
opened my eyes to the dreadful world that non-human animals
inhabit. The more information I got, the more I knew I had to
do as much as possible to help. Based in Hong Kong, there is
so much opportunity to witness and report on animal cruelty. I
am lucky I have a job which allows me to travel a lot.

Claudette: You were one of the first people to go
undercover in China to document abuse in the dog meat
industry. What were your experiences there?

John: There are several of us who have been doing it
for many years. Dog farming is becoming big business.
Scientific methods are being used to improve the livestock to
product the ideal food dog. To get to the dog farms I posed as
a breeder of large dogs in Scotland who wished to sell stock
to China. I said I had read an article in The New York Times
and was interested to see if I could do business. Actually, I
had intended to sneak in and take photos without revealing
anything – just playing the part of dumb foreigner.

I located the first farm, blustered my way past the manager
with a few Mandarin phrases and managed to get some good
photos. However, the manager notified his boss and I was
"invited" to meet the boss, the city mayor, the local
Communist Party secretary, the head of the international trade
bureau, the owner of another dog farm and, to my horror, the
local school teacher who spoke very good English.

I was then given a formal tour of the same farm I had
visited (in which they didn't show me the nasty bits I had
managed to photograph before), and then we visited the other
man's farm before going for lunch. This, paid for by the
mayor, was a huge spread of practically every animal known to
humans – except, surprisingly, dog. My veganism immediately
drew suspicion and by the end of the meal several of the group
were becoming hostile.

However, the Lady Mayor continued to believe me and, as she
was the highest-ranking officer, the others couldn't say
anything. Towards the end of the lunch I left the table and
the school teacher found a pretext to look through my bags. He
then said the dog farm bosses wanted to have a private word
with me so I said OK – but the moment he was out of the room I
was down the stairs and into a taxi.

Claudette: What are the welfare standards like in
China?

John: Animal welfare in China until recently was a
virtually unknown concept. But now many small organisations
are springing up. They need to unite and organise and push for
changes, and there are signs that this is happening.

Claudette: What do you think is required to move
things along?

John: Asia desperately needs more activists willing
to do undercover work. What has hampered things here has been
a traditional live-and-let-live attitude. But all it takes for
evil to flourish is for good people to do nothing. Evil, when
confronted, can be defeated. We must try and inspire a
generation of activists to take up this challenge.

Claudette: You have set up the first Hong Kong vegan
resource centre. How much success have you had?

John: I started the Hong Kong Vegan Society many
years ago and it has stayed alive, but only just. I have to
say that the time is not yet ripe for the spread of vegan
ideas in China. All we can do is make the information
available and wait for the ripples to spread.

Claudette: What areas of animal abuse are you
currently working on?

John: Most of my hands-on work is with dogs and
cats, but I try to help in all areas when opportunities arise.
I am convinced that we shall not make significant progress in
any of the areas until more people are vegetarian. As long as
they are eating animals, they have to justify the continuing
abuse of them in all areas. The most important thing is to
spread veg*nism.

Claudette: Many talented, dynamic people attended
the second Asia for Animals conference – a positive,
pro-animal phenomenon – in Hong Kong recently. How are these
conferences important?

John: Animal welfare/rights people often feel
isolated – no one around them cares. It is good for these
people to get together for mutual support and exchange of
information.

Claudette: Where do you see Asia heading,
specifically China, in regard to factory-farming
practices?

John: Joining WTO has been and will continue to be
disastrous for animals in China. Prosperity is also bad for
them as many Chinese were obligate vegetarians, but with
greater wealth they can consume as much meat as they want.

Claudette: Do you predict that Western
multi-corporatism will inflict upon China and other Asian
countries their profit-driven "standards", making them a
financial trade agreement that their governments won't
refuse?

John: There is no doubt that this is already
happening. The good thing of course is that the same force of
globalisation also helps animal welfarists to unite and
organise. But things are going to get a lot worse before they
start getting better.

Claudette: If the Western multinationals come in and
offer "humane slaughtering practices" to an economy that
cannot afford it, won't it just be a case of the values of
factory-farming Westerners inundating Asia with their
madness?

John: I believe animal welfarists waste far too much
energy on so called "humane slaughter" and "compassionate
animal farming". I believe these phrases are contradictions in
terms and hypocritical. Of course I am happy if any animal is
treated more kindly but when people can be convinced that
their meat is cruelty-free, they will eat more.

Claudette: Is there a solution to this?

John: I see veganism as the only answer. People tell
me that this is pie in the sky – but if that is true then I
don't think there is a solution.

Claudette: You have an excellent vegan email list.
How do readers subscribe to it?

Would you like to help Dr Wedderburn build his Hong Kong
vegan resource centre? Please send any animal rights/welfare
magazines, books & t-shirts to PO Box 56, East Brunswick
VIC 3057 and we'll send them to him for
you.